Development and Costs of an Intraoperative Echocardiography Service

Abstract

Intraoperative echocardiography (IOE) has become an important part of cardiovascular anesthesiology. An IOE service should provide the equipment and personnel needed to acquire and interpret echocardiographic images during surgery and communicate findings to the medical record. It also should archive images and reports, provide training in echocardiography skills, arrange for continuous quality improvement, and develop a means to bill for echocardiography services. Although the costs of providing IOE services can be estimated, the financial impact of starting such a service will vary greatly between institutions depending on the availability and use of existing resources and expertise. IOE is not a trivial skill and requires considerable training and experience to perform competently. Reimbursement for IOE services provided by anesthesiologists is highly dependent on local policies and will require continued vigilance and effort to be made fair and reasonable for all providers. The primary motivation for anesthesiologists to become involved in IOE is improved patient care.